Africa: No, Pressing the ATM's Cancel Button Won't Prevent Bank Card Fraud - NewsEverything Africa

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IN SHORT: The claim that pressing the “cancel” button on an ATM up to four times to prevent card fraud has resurfaced online. But it’s still incorrect.

A Facebook post circulating in South Africa in January 2023 advises consumers to press the “cancel button 3 to 4 times before using any ATM in South Africa” to prevent card fraud.

A number of comments thanked the poster for the tip. The same claim has been published here, here and here, racking up hundreds of views.

In 2019, Africa Check looked into a similar claim shared in Kenya. Then Fidelis Muia, director of technical services at the Kenya Bankers Association, told us that the sole purpose of the cancel button on an automated teller machine (ATM) was to stop transactions in progress. He said it would not prevent anyone from “stealing your PIN”.

Is the situation any different with ATMs in South Africa? We checked.

Common types of card fraud in South Africa

The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) is a financial crime risk information centre set up by several of the country’s banks to help consumers protect themselves from bank-related crimes.

According to Sabric, the most common types of ATM card fraud were:

Card swapping, where a victim’s card was swapped out with another that looked just like theirs at an ATM. This often happened when fraudsters offered to assist victims with a transaction.

Card skimming, which involved fraudsters tampering with ATMs by placing card readers and cameras in and around the ATM in order to steal victims’ pins and card details.